Parappa The Rapper

Released for PlayStation 1 on December 6th 1996 in Japan, and in 1997 in the rest of the world, Parappa the Rapper is a highly unique rhythm game, both in its gameplay and in its graphical style. So much so, that Parappa became one of PlayStation's most recognized mascots.

The plot is simple and wacky at the same time. In short, Parappa is in love with Sunny, so the game is basically about him trying to win her affection. This involves situations like getting stronger, getting a driver's license, and baking her a cake.

Parappa being a rapper, all of this involves rap battles with other characters. How does rapping let you skip places in line for the bathroom, you might ask. In this world, apparently, it does.

Gameplay

In each stage, the song follows the same pattern: your opponent sings a verse, and right after that Parappa repeats it. During the opponent's turn, their icon travels along a line at the top of the screen with images corresponding to the joystick buttons. When it's your turn, you have to press the same buttons in the same rhythm.

If you fumble the commands, your rating drops from Good to Bad and then Awful. While your rating is worse than Good, the song plays weird sound effects, and your opponent changes posture and expression, so you always know how well you're doing even without checking the rating in the corner.

If your rating drops even further than Awful, the stage ends in a game over. But if you manage to play correctly before that happens, you can climb back up. To clear a stage, you need to finish at Good or higher.

Rap hero

Playing this like a traditional rhythm game, just hitting the notes as shown, is one way to approach it. But the way the developers actually intended you to play, so much that it's written right there in the manual, is to not follow the button guide too closely and instead make up your own rap.

That means mixing in unscripted button presses between the expected ones, or pressing the button multiple times, trying to build your own rhythm instead of just copying the prompts, as long as you stay on the beat. This is also the only way to reach the Cool rating, which sits above Good.

If you reach the Cool rating, the stage changes completely. Instead of the opponent telling you which buttons to press, you enter a free mode where you can rap however you like. The game is still judging you, though, and you can drop back down to Good if things go wrong, at which point the stage returns to its normal flow.

A flawed classic

This all sounds simple, but the game doesn't make it easy. The main issue is that, unlike other rhythm games that tell you exactly when to press each button, here the timing feels more like a suggestion. Usually, the correct moment to press a button lands a fraction of a second after the character icon passes over the button icon on screen.

At first I assumed this was some kind of LCD latency issue, but it still happens even on a real PS1 hooked up to a CRT TV.

Maybe the developers designed it this way on purpose, to push players toward improvising? Either way, instead of chasing the icon on the button track, you're better off feeling out the rhythm, or, even better, just playing it as intended and rapping freely.

Another problem tied to the button tracks is that it's hard to tell when it's actually your turn unless you already know the songs by heart. The track always scrolls all the way to the end of the screen, but your turn can start suddenly, before your opponent's icon even reaches the end. This gets especially rough on the final stage, where Parappa raps solo without the opponent going first, so the buttons just appear with no warning at all.

Even during your own rapping and free mode, it's hard to tell what the game actually considers good improvisation, or why your rating drops. So it does end up feeling a bit luck-based at times.

The last big complaint is the game's length. With only 6 short songs, most under 2 minutes, and no extra modes, you can finish it in less than thirty minutes if you play well. Your first few runs will likely take longer, though, since the game can be unforgiving and a few game overs are almost guaranteed.

That said, trying to rap well and clearing each stage while in Cool rating (which changes the stage ending dialogue) can add some extra playtime if you're chasing that. There’s actually an extra non-playable stage if you manage to finish all stages in Cool rating. Still, most people will be done with the whole game pretty quickly.

For Japanese learners

All the dialogue and songs are actually in English. The settings menu itself doesn't switch languages, but you can turn on English subtitles, so most of the game plays just like a western release. I'd say it's completely playable even if you don't understand a word of Japanese.

Conclusion

Because of how the game handles button timing, you probably won't enjoy it much if you go in expecting a traditional rhythm game. I had the most fun treating it like a toy, just trying to see if I could hit that Cool rating in each song.

That said, there's no denying the charm and uniqueness of Parappa the Rapper. If you're building a PS1 collection, it's one of those games you just need to own.

As a game to actually play, though, I'd recommend starting with the spin-off and pseudo-sequel Um Jammer Lammy instead, which improved the formula in pretty much every way. My impressions of that one are coming soon!